Intoxicants and baby names may seem an unlikely match. But name trends reflect society, and there’s no denying that alcohol and drugs are a big and ever-changing part of our culture. When name style, pop culture and liquor/drug trends coincide, it can be a potent fashion combination.
Take a tour through some highlights of “intoxicating” name trends over the past 70+ years. Note that this is a largely female style category; unless otherwise noted, the statistics refer to girls’ names.
4 Comments
Well. The word sativus/sativa/sativum means “cultivated”, and lots of cultivated plants are called that. This might nog be generally known.
But it should be obvious that Indica means “from India” – the one person of that name I have been in contact with was born in India. No drug related thoughts from her parents.
No question, not every child given one of these names was named for the intoxicant! But unlike, say, Mary Jane or Margarita, Indica is not a traditional name.
This reminds me of an old name joke from Roseanne, where Becky complains that she doesn’t like her name. Roseanne tells her she should be grateful: “It was the 70s; you could have been named Frampton or Chablis.”
I know of several Alize’s but they’re all spelled differently. My niece’s is probably the least traditional…my brother swears he was joking about naming her Hennessy had she been a boy! We happily took our Allie. For searchability reasons 4l3’z4y3